Jack Buckby
Key Points and Summary – The recent 12-day war between Israel and Iran exposed a “critical supply gap” in America’s most advanced missile defences. The U.S. reportedly fired between 100 and 150 THAAD interceptors—costing nearly $2 billion—to help defend Israel, depleting as much as a quarter of its entire stockpile. The crisis is magnified by the fact that the U.S. only produces about 12 of these interceptors per year, meaning it would take over a decade to replace what was used.
-This unsustainable burn rate helps explain President Trump’s hesitancy to send similar advanced systems to Ukraine. U.S. Missile Interceptor Supply Gap Exposed After Iran Strikes. The United States reportedly used as much as one quarter of its Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) interceptor missiles to help down missiles launched at Israel by Iran during the 12-day war.
Between 100 and 150 THAAD rockets, part of the United States’ most advanced and strategically important missile defence system, were used at a cost of roughly $12.7 million each – or almost $2 billion in total. The news comes from reports by CNN and The Wall Street Journal, citing sources familiar with the cooperation. The revelation exposes a critical supply gap at a time when the White House is not only working to modernise its own forces, but also resuming arms shipments to Ukraine following a brief pause.
Reports suggest that the United States provided the rockets after learning that Israel was short on Arrow interceptors, with officials concerned that the country was only weeks away from running out. Israel, however, denied the reports. The THAAD ballistic missile defense system, designed and manufactured by Lockheed Martin, has been in service since 2008. The system is designed to intercept short- and medium-range ballistic missiles in their descent or reentry phase. Its missiles do not carry a warhead, instead relying on kinetic energy to destroy missiles before they reach their intended targets.
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